Breaking News-RTRS-Argentine soy crop suffering the drought - reports

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Argentina's 2008/09 soy crop is deteriorating due to a drought affecting much of the growing region, the Agriculture Secretariat said on Friday in a weekly crop progress report.
Record soy production is expected this year as farmers seed more lands than ever with the oilseed. But if dry conditions persist, the bright outlook could darken for the world's No. 3 soybean exporter and its top supplier of soyoil and meal.
Conditions could be improved in Argentina's central agricultural region by rains expected over the weekend, a report from the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said.